Authentication is a technique for verifying a user. Typically, authentication is standardized for each resource such that each electronic resource is associated with a specific authentication technique. For example, a financial institution may make the online banking interface subject to a username and password combination to authenticate a user and the ATM transaction interface subject to a bank card and personal identification number (PIN) combination to authenticate the user. Thus, the user cannot use the username and password of their online banking tools to access the ATM.
Conventionally, the authentication required for a particular electronic resource is set by the organization and does not change. Suppose that a user logs into online banking from a mobile device to check their balance a block away from an ATM, and then moments later attempts to perform a transaction at the ATM. The authentication technique utilized by the ATM does not change based on the user's previous activity. Accordingly, users are repeatedly required to re-authenticate despite the user's previous activity. Moreover, the user may need to enter different information each time the user is authenticated depending on the particular electronic resource being accessed.